Brandon Taylor Cole-Skogstad, 29, shot and killed his relatives on Tuesday night, then turned the gun on himself on Wednesday
A 29-year-old Minnesota man shot and killed his aunt and uncle, their two young daughters and the family dog while they slept - and then later killed himself, authorities said Thursday.
He carried out the shocking massacre after posting on Facebook that he had made 'the absolutely horrid choice' to do so, a shocking confession that his surviving family members confirmed.
Mike Tusken, chief of Duluth police, fought back tears as he spoke of the murder of 44-year-old Rian Barry, her husband Sean, 47, and their daughters Shiway, 12, and Sadie, aged nine.
Rian and Sean's nephew, Brandon Taylor Cole-Skogstad, is believed to have killed his relatives in their beds sometime on Tuesday night, then shot himself as police knocked on the door around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Cole-Skogstad made his Facebook post about an hour earlier, saying he had 'suffered many years of mental illness' but that he 'almost never sought out help because I felt I never deserved it.'
Rian Barry, 44; her husband Sean, 47; and their daughters Shiway, 12, and Sadie, aged nine, were all murdered in their beds by Rian and Sean's nephew on Tuesday night
Rian Barry is pictured with her daughters. Their murder has shocked and saddened the commuity in Duluth
The Barrys are pictured with their two daughters when the girls were young
He wrote about suffering from mental illness for years, and said he wished he could go back and make better choices in life.
'I would have ignored the hatred thrown at me by peers for so long.'
He continued: 'I have made the absolutely horrid choice in not only taking my life, but the lives of my aunt, Riana Lou Barry, my uncle Sean Barry, and my two sweet, beyond angelic cousins Sadie Lucille Barry and Shiway Elizabeth Barry.'
Cole-Skogstad says he made the decision because he had told Shiway, 12, he considered suicide, and the declaration saw 'all my past scars opened'.
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ShareThe post ends: 'I cannot fathom how I came to this decision, but I do know this. If there is a God sitting in heaven, I wish so much that he grant my family the most peaceful heavenly afterlife possible.
'I love you all and please know I knew you all loved me. I tried my best to fight it. Good bye.'
Tusken confirmed the authenticity of the post.
Officers went to check on Cole-Skogstad on Wednesday morning at 11:18 a.m., at his home in Hermantown, after a family member received a message from him saying he intended to harm himself and other family members.
Hermantown police then asked Tusken's department to check on his relatives in nearby Duluth.
'It is a terribly traumatic event,' said Tusken.
'We all have really heavy hearts.'
The home in the 700 block of East 12th Street is pictured on Thursday, the day after the Barry family and Cole-Skogstad were found dead inside
The Barry home is pictured, where Rian and Sean lived with their daughters Shiway, 12, and nine-year-old Sadie
Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken pauses and holds back tears on Thursday during a press conference
Tusken said he had never seen a case so disturbing in his 30 year policing career
'Incidents like these shake our sense of safety as a community and the region as a whole,' Tusken said.
'In my 30 years of policing, I have never seen anything like this.
'Sometimes people forget that the officers and investigators responding to the scene have families too. This is devastating for them to respond to, to see, and to process afterwards.
'It's heart-wrenching. You can't unsee it.'
Police used a drone and robot to investigate before tactical officers entered the home at 3pm on Wednesday - over two hours after hearing the shot.
Cole-Skogstad had stayed at the family's home previously, the chief said, but he offered no information on what precipitated the killings.
Duluth and Hermantown police checked 911 logs but found no calls indicating any concerns about the man, he said.
Duluth is a city of nearly 87,000 that's about 150 miles north of Minneapolis, on the shore of Lake Superior.
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